Lawyer accused of murdering wife absconds

Staff ReporterTURA, Oct 25: The lawyer, Jahirul Islam Sarkar, who has been accused of murdering his wife and then hanging her body from a ceiling to show that it was a suicide case has gone into hiding even before the post mortem report of his wife is provided to the police.Dejected by the slow pace of the police investigation which allowed the lawyer to abscond, the family of the victim (Rezia Sultana) has moved Court seeking either a CID inquiry or one conducted by the CBI into the case.

The incident in question took place in the village of Old Bhaitbari under Phulbari PS with a case filed by the mother of the victim in the Hallidayganj PS under West Garo Hills on October 2, a day after Rezia was allegedly killed.According to the FIR received, the victim had been married for the past 7 years to Sarkar. It was the second marriage for both Rezia and Sarkar. Rezia had 2 children from her previous marriage – a fact known to Sarkar before their marriage. Sarkar’s former wife resides in the village of Patharkata under Phulbari PS.The family further accused the police of not properly investigating the case in which they felt was a clear case of murder. They also questioned as to how the accused, Jahirul, was the only one allowed into the room where the incident took place when even the victim’s own family was not allowed to enter.“They allowed him to direct the investigation as and where he wanted them to. He is the main reason as to why our child is dead and he was being allowed in as if there was no suspicion on him. We even filed an FIR into the murder but the police stated that as he was cooperating with the investigation, arrest was not necessary. Now how do they answer for him absconding?” asked a visibly irritated family member.According to eye witnesses to the crime scene, the room in which Sarkar and his now deceased wife was a small one and Sarkar had confessed that he woke up at 3 am to take a bath to perform ‘namaz’.“How does he offer namaz at 3 am when it is not the time to do so? We feel he was trying to tamper with the crime scene and that is why he did not allow the son or the victim’s brother (who were sleeping in the next room) to visit the room,” said a member of the victim’s family.The FIR filed by the mother had claimed that there was a huge fight when Sarkar came home after which he locked both the son and younger brother of the victim in another room. Sarkar had been seeking a separation from the victim, which had been refused by her and her family. The family also said the dupatta that she used to hang herself was also so tight that it caused the police some difficulty to cut it down.“We had complained to the police on the spot that the murder was committed by Sarkar but the police didn’t want to listen to our version,” added the family.Further the family in their petition to the Court has hit hard at the police with accusations of a slow investigation thereby allowing Sarkar to evade arrest. They also questioned the investigation done by the police into the matter and accused them of knowing where the accused was but making no effort to arrest him.“He has been roaming freely right under their noses and they have done nothing to take him into custody for the murder of his wife in the presence of her two children,” said the petition to Court. Meanwhile, the anticipatory bail of the accused, Sarkar, was rejected by the Court after he attempted to get one earlier.Upon being contacted on the matter, the superintendent of police, Dr MGR Kumar said, “The accused in the case has been absconding for about 15 days. The FIR was received on October 2 and an investigation is currently on. We are making all efforts to trace the accused and arrest him. Necessary instructions have been relayed to the I/O in the matter.”According to the SP, the investigation at present does not clearly point towards murder though nothing conclusive can be said at the moment.